Aerial Bombing, Strategic Terrorism

Strategic Terror

The Politics and Ethics of Aerial Bombardment

Beau Grosscup

'Beau Grosscup shows that aerial bombardment, which was used many years ago as a means of terrorizing native populations in Africa and the Middle East, has become the primary form of terrorism in more recent decades. As he indicates, 'strategic terror' is not classed as 'terrorism' in the West, but this reflects political power and a resultant politicization of word usage, and an unwillingness to confront the human costs and immorality of aerial bombardment. Beau Grosscup's Strategic Terror is a major and much needed addition to the literature on terrorism'. - Edward S. Herman (author of The Real Terror Network and co-author of The Terrorism Industry).

'Strategic Terror is a must read for these highly militarized times. Grosscup shows us that the present day use of indiscriminate bombing with its high casualty rates among civilians has a long troubling history. He puts the 'Shock and Awe' strategy of the Iraq war in a context of past colonial and imperial 'othering' and convincingly documents how the present 'war on terror' is really a war of U.S. terrorism.' - Zillah Eisenstein, (author of Hatreds, Sexualized and Racialized Conflicts of the 21st Century; Global Obscenities; and Against Empire, Feminisms, Racism and the West).

Reviews

'Beau Grosscup shows that aerial bombardment, which was used many years ago as a means of terrorizing native populations in Africa and the Middle East, has become the primary form of terrorism in more recent decades. As he indicates, 'strategic terror' is not classed as 'terrorism' in the West, but this reflects political power and a resultant politicization of word usage, and an unwillingness to confront the human costs and immorality of aerial bombardment. Beau Grosscup's Strategic Terror is a major and much needed addition to the literature on terrorism.' - Edward S. Herman (author of The Real Terror Network, co-author of The Terrorism Industry)

'What makes this work a much-needed addition to the literature and the debate is Grosscup's ability to illustrate, through his fluent use of colourful vocabulary, that the present-day use of indiscriminate bombing, with its high casualty rates among civilians, has a long and troubling history. Grosscup's work also has a clear agenda...His central conclusion is, again, comprehensively detailed.' - John Coulter, Tribune

'An ambitious attempt to chart the politics of strategic bombing from the 20th century to the present day...one of the main merits of the book is the clear documentation of how civilians, mostly working people, have always been targeted...a book which highlights well the genocidal brutality of powerful states.' - Morning Star

Table of Contents

1. Shock and Awe!! Shock and Awe!!
'Shock and Awe' and Terrorism - The Political Culture of 'Shock and Awe' - Civilian Casualties: Whose Counting? - Iraqi Civilian Casualties: Blaming the Victims
2. The Origins of Strategic Bombing
The Great War and Strategic Bombing Theory - The Prophets Speak - Civilians in Warfare
3. Who is to be Bombed? The Self and Other in Imperial Culture
The Rise of Imperial Culture - The Imperial Center: Bombing in the Great Wars of the Future - The Militarized Prophets - Bombing Civilians to Win - The Prophets of Strategic Bombing
4. Strategic Bombing Comes of Age
Bombing the Colonial Masses - Total War in the Imperial Center: The Search for Rules - The Fascists Bomb Republican Spain - The United States' Entry into Strategic Bombing - Strategic Bombing in World War II - The British Bombing Campaign - United States Strategic Bombing
5. Cold War Strategic Bombing: From Korea to Vietnam
United States Cold War Bombing Doctrine - Total War: The Atomic Strategic Bombing Scenario - A Return to Conventional Strategic Bombing - The Forgotten Bombing of Korea - Lessons of the Forgotten War - Bombing Indochina - Assessing the Civilian Carnage - Objectifying Indochina's Victims
6. Terrorists in the Bombsites
The Politics of Terrorism - The New World Order: Keeping Terrorism at a Distance
7. Strategic Bombing in the 1990s
The Persian Gulf War: Planning the Air Attack - The 'Hyper-war' - Hyperwar: Assessing the Carnage - Terrorizing the Environment - Counting the Hyperwar Dead - Playing the Terrorism Card - Race, Class and Gender in the New Face of Terrorism - Bombing the Terrorists of the New World Order - Israeli and Russian Strategic Bombing - NATO's 'Humanitarian' Bombing of Kosovo and Serbia - Bombing the Environment: Indirect Civilian Deaths
8. Bombing to Win: 9/11 and the War on Terrorism
Patterns of Strategic Bombing - The Strategic Bombing of 9/11 - Bush's Post 9/11 War on Terrorism - The Revenge Bombing Afghanistan - The New Precision War: How Accurate? - Counting Civilian Casualties: Business as Usual - The Pentagon Makes Civilian Casualties Disappear
9. Dodging the Terrorism Label
The Politics of Defining Terrorism - The Instrument of Political Socialization - Imaging Terrorism - The Politics of Linguicide - How to Avoid the Terrorism Label When Bombing
10. Terror from the Skies
Is Strategic Bombing Terrorism? - Strategic Bombing as Terrorism - The Real Terrorism Divide - What Must Be Done?

About the Author:

Beau Grosscup is Professor of International Relations, California State University, Chico. He has made a special study of terrorism for many years, and is the author of Newest Explosions of Terrorism, now in its 4th edition.